Itty Bitty Pawfeet
by Beekiller-Johanna from Finland
Summary: Petstuck, no SBURB. Trolls are native to Earth and there's no mothergrub & no advanced space travel for trolls. Wild/feral trolls form the nation Alternia, the current troll empire. Domesticated trolls descend from trolls captured by humans during the previous troll empire, Beforus, occasionally interbreeding with the feral trolls. Semi-plotless Vantas family fluff incoming...


Author Note:If you need my tumblr: gojira86  
I mostly reblog stuff, but I might answer questions if any good ones come up.

Full summary: Petstuck, no SBURB. Trolls are native to Earth and there's no mothergrub & no advanced space travel for trolls. Wild/feral trolls form the nation Alternia, the current troll empire. Domesticated trolls descend from trolls captured by humans during the previous troll empire, Beforus, occasionally interbreeding with the feral trolls.  
Signless & Sufferer (named Sailes and Sufras Vantas) are brothers, and live with Nanna Egbert.  
Sailes is a teacher of troll history in a community college and a columnist in a local newspaper (currently on lusus-leave from both jobs) and a troll rights activist. He is proud of his two wrigglers (Kankri and Karkat) and is happy to have a family.  
Sufras was previously used in an illegal troll fighting ring, and was freed and re-united with Sailes about 5-6 years ago. He is heavily disfigured by his time in the arena and has nerve pains that prevent him from wearing clothes or walking upright for long periods of time.  
Semi-plotless Vantas family fluff incoming...

Disclaimer: I don't own Homestuck.

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Chapter 1: The end of a beginning

A faint rustling woke Sailes up, like most nights for the past week or so. On the other side of the room his younger hatchmate, Sufras, was slowly stirring in his own bed. Sailes quietly stroked the ball of fluff curled up on his chest. Precious little Kankri, his firstborn, was already the size of a human baby and well on the way to becoming toddler sized. Kankri's hatchmate, laid and hatched a full six months later, was still pupating in the quiet corner at the foot of Sailes' bed. He had brought the grub there any time it had produced silk until it finally spun its cocoon where he wanted.

Sailes had learned his lesson after Kankri had managed to spin his cocoon in the living room's bookshelf. Keeping vigil over his pupation had been uncomfortable and extremely stressful. The room was too large and open, the two entrances didn't have doors and couldn't be blocked, he could hear every movement in the apartment building's corridor and being on the first floor the windows had an excellent view to the playground. For six weeks Sailes had kept the living room's curtains and blinds closed, unscrewed all the light bulbs and wouldn't let the vacuum cleaner anywhere near the living room. He wouldn't even sleep on the couch unless Sufras took over keeping vigil on the floor in front of the shelf. Even the TV wasn't allowed on because of the light and noise it made, so his only entertainment had been reading out loud to Sufras and the pupating wriggler.

Sailes relaxed and started drifting back to sleep when nothing else made a sound, especially in the corner. Sufras hadn't even woken up and was snoring lightly. The wriggler had probably just shifted around in the cocoon. Kankri had done the same when his pupation was nearing its end. He woke up when the cocoon rustled again. He waited for a few minutes and when he heard the rustling again, he sat up in his bed, holding Kankri close to his chest. Now Sufras was also awake, blinking sleep from his bleary eyes.

"Is it ready?" Sufras asked in his broken English, struggling against his brain damage. Sailes shrugged and got up. He sneaked to the foot of the bed and kneeled on the floor. Kankri held on to his lustrous white, full-body lusus-fur with all four tiny paws and tried to stay asleep. When the cocoon rustled once more, Sailes chirped at it. The rustling stopped for a while and there was a tiny chirp. Sailes licked his lips and spoke in the native language that all trolls inherited in their genetic memory: "_Yes, Sufras, it is ready. Go get mom. She wanted to see this, and maybe take some pictures. Hmm… I don't know about that… The lights would have to be on for that. Tell her_ 'the cocoon is ready', _and try to hurry_."

Sufras crawled out of his bed and limped out of the room muttering over and over the English words he needed to remember: "The cocoon is ready. The, the cocoon. Is ready. The cocoon is ready…"

Sailes sat down in the pile they had under the window, cradling Kankri in his arms. He debated himself whether he should wake up Kankri or not. Wrigglers need a lot of sleep and he sure seemed tired. Then again, Kankri had been excited about getting a hatchmate ever since the grub had hatched, and curious about it ever since Sailes laid the egg. When he was brooding, Kankri often just stared the egg and kept asking all kinds of childish questions, 'is it ready yet?', 'what do eggs eat?' and many others. When the grub hatched, in spite of Sailes' frequent warnings Kankri had tried to play with it until the frightened grub bit him in self-defence. The pupation had been easier for Kankri to understand. The urge of childish curiosity to examine the cocoon a bit too closely was still there but responsible adult supervision ensured he didn't disturb the cocoon while satisfying his curiosity.

It was probably better to wake up Kankri. If he was too tired to stay awake he could go back to sleep. Besides, Kankri would also have to take part in teaching the new wriggler their calls, or it wouldn't know Kankri's call. Waiting until morning would not just risk Kankri getting upset over not seeing his hatchmate emerging from the cocoon. There was also the chance that the freshly pupated wriggler would mistake some other noise for their calls, making it near impossible to find it if it got lost.

Sailes could hear the old woman getting out of her bed in the other room. He kissed Kankri between the horns and started gently patting the wriggler's bottom in rhythmic sets, whispering between each set: "Hey. Wake up."

Kankri held on to his lusus-fur a little tighter. Pat-pat-pat. "Wake up, sleepyhead."

Kankri frowned, trying to stay asleep. Pat-pat-pat. "Who's my sleepy little grub?"

Kankri hid his face in Sailes' furry chest, tiny horns pressing into the elder troll's collarbone. Pat-pat-pat. "Come on, I know you don't want to miss this."

Kankri looked up with one squinting eye. Pat-pat-pat. "It's time. Open those eyes or you'll miss it."

That confused the sleepy little troll, and he frowned. "Time? What time?"

Kankri yawned. Sailes rubbed his hands briskly up and down Kankri's sides to stimulate blood circulation and help him wake up. "Your hatchmate is ready to emerge."

Kankri's mouth snapped shut. His ears perked up and he twisted around when the cocoon rustled again. He inhaled, about to shout with excitement but Sailes placed a finger on his lips and shushed him quiet. "No loud noises, you'll scare it. Remember what I told you? If it gets scared, it stays in the cocoon. So whispers only. Before and after it comes out, I have to do some Lusus-stuff and then we teach it our calls. Then it needs milk and sleep on my belly to stay warm until its fur dries. I'll be busy doing Lusus-things, so if you have questions, ask Sufras, ok?"

Kankri gave an enthusiastic, yet adorably serious nod. Sufras spoke, having walked into the doorway in the middle of Sailes' speech: "_Ok. I'll try to answer. But if I can't, Kankri must wait for morning_."

His voice was a few notes lower and a bit scratchy, ruined by years of screaming. Sailes hadn't noticed him and gave him a confused smile. "Thanks. Is she coming?"

A quiet nod and a somewhat suspicious squint later Sufras started hobbling closer, moving on all fours unlike most adult trolls usually did. His bent and misshaped limbs were spread slightly wider than seemed necessary, taking one quiet step at a time. "_She's loading the camera. Now, no more worries. Tunnel vision already_?"

He sat on the floor next to Sailes and took Kankri from him. He put Kankri on the floor after a brief hug and leaned against Sailes. Sufras was noticeably taller than his hatchmate, and even though he sat on the floor he could easily rest his head on Sailes' shoulder. Most people assumed they were non-identical hacthmates, but those people assumed wrong.

Sailes was looking around the room, testing his vision: "No, not yet. Just getting fuzzy around the edge of my vision. But it is happening faster than last time. I can feel the lusus-hormone levels rising. Even my lactic fluid glands are already tingling with colostrum production."

Sufras leaned over Sailes and kissed him on the forehead: "_I'm here if you need me_."

The lights turned on in the corridor. The open door let a decent amount of light to the room. Sailes shielded his oversensitive eyes with a hand: "Okay, maybe mom can take pictures after all, if the lights don't need to be on in the room."

The old lady, Anna Egbert, came in with a Polaroid camera. She sat on Sailes' bed with an apologetic smile. Sailes greeted her: "Hi mom."

"Hello, dear. I'm sorry I took so long, I couldn't find my cheaters." She nudged her glasses meaningfully and winked. Sailes clumsily got out of the pile and rested his head on her knees.

"It's ok. I'm not ready yet," he whispered and nuzzled her knees affectionately. She put the camera on the bed and started petting him. One hand sank into his curly black hair to lightly scritch his scalp and the other rubbed soothing circles on his shoulders. He sighed and looked up at her with a dopey smile: "Love you, mom."

She had barely said 'I love you' back when Sailes had gotten up on his knees and pulled her in for a kiss. Just a simple smooch on the lips, after all he considered the woman his mother. He broke the kiss and licked around her lips until she pushed out her tongue, offered it to him. He pressed their tongues together for a while. Then he parted from her, his instincts satisfied over confirming her identity.

Sailes sat back on the floor, panting and swaying lightly. Sufras stepped closer and nudged the old woman's knee for attention. "Egg-lady, camera test?"

"Camera test? What do you mean? The camera worked just fine yesterday."

Sailes lowered himself on the floor and lay down on his side. "I say him this much light is ok, umh, for me. If light is not ok much for camera, no pictures. Test now."

"Oh, all right. The corner is the darkest spot. I'll take the test picture there."

Sailes stopped paying attention to the old woman and looked around for his hatchmate. He was starting to feel a bit warm. Suddenly Sufras was there, kneeling over him, hands cupping his cheeks. Their faces were only inches apart and Sufras looked into his eyes intently: "How goes? Ready?"

Sailes shivered a bit. He licked his lips a couple of times, trying to find the words that now felt so hard to grasp: "Almost. Tunnel vision. English, slipping… So warm. Hnnggghh… Lick?"

Sufras closed the distance and pressed their black lips together. His tongue slipped into his hatchmate's open mouth and brushed against Sailes' tongue, mutually exchanging genetic information to confirm each other's identity. Sailes relaxed and started purring quietly, his eyes rolled back in his head and he went limp in Sufras' hands.

Sufras pulled back and just looked at his hatchmate. Kankri crawled closer from under the bed where he had been watching. Sufras beckoned him closer: "_Kankri, you need to give him a lick too, before he is ready to help your hatchmate out of the cocoon_."

Kankri crept closer and Sufras gently repositioned Sailes on his back. Sailes' hands twitched and he opened his eyes. The fur on his temples was starting to look moist from perspiration. He looked around groggily, pupils dilated from the ever-increasing lusus-hormones. He was licking his lips again, almost compulsively, and his tongue looked slightly swollen. "_Kankri_?"

Kankri was apprehensive and hesitated. He'd never seen his Lusus like this. A cautious step brought him next to Sailes' hand, which he sniffed suspiciously. The smell was familiar enough, a mixture of Sailes' own scent and the lusus-pheromones that made Kankri feel safe and loved, but it was unusually overpowering and rich with the pheromones. Kankri wanted to turn away because the scent made the air feel thick and heavy to breathe but at the same time they made him want to cuddle up with his Lusus and take a nap.

"_Where's Kankri_?" Sailes was looking around for Kankri but didn't think of looking close to himself. Not finding the wriggler he got agitated and tried to get up. He almost burst into tears when Sufras gently pushed him back down: "_Where's my grub? I need to find him. Give him to me Sufras_."

"_He's right here. Relax. I'll get him, hold on. Come on, Kankri, up. And here you go_." Sufras picked up Kankri and put him on Sailes' chest. Kankri let out a surprised 'eep' when he was lifted onto his Lusus. Sailes let out a sigh of relief when he felt the familiar weight. He looked at Kankri with a smile and embraced the confused wriggler warmly. He pulled Kankri closer and peppered his face with kisses. He was purring again and Kankri relaxed after a while.

Soon the kisses turned into licks, grooming Kankri. His wriggler-fur, fine and soft like a chinchilla's, settled effortlessly in what ever way Sailes groomed it. When Kankri offered his tongue, Sailes didn't waste time in pressing his own against it. With the genetic information exchanged, Kankri began to purr and Sailes lay back on the floor, so limp and relaxed that he wondered if his bones had turned into jelly.

Sailes felt like his mind had undressed all the fineries of analytic thinking, learned (other) languages and worrying about things that haven't happened yet, in the process purifying and reaching a higher state of consciousness that amplified his emotions and gave him an intuitive knowledge of what and how and when and why something needed to happen and gave him the tools to get it done, rather than getting lost in some primitive wasteland of instincts like humans seemed to assume when witnessing this state. He listened to the semi-regular rustling of the cocoon. It wasn't the most beautiful thing in the world, but it was the promise of it. He was ready. All he needed was an invitation.

Sailes opened his eyes and stopped purring when the cocoon chirped unprompted. He chirped back without a second thought, he didn't even pay attention to Kankri being lifted off of his chest. Even if he did note in the back of his mind the wriggler's absence, no point in worrying, everyone here was familiar and safe.

The cocoon rustled a bit more insistently. Sailes got on all fours and crept closer to see the cocoon. His chirp, a simple 'I'm here, I'm fine, are you?' signal, received a low-pitched whine in return, in this context signalling 'I'm stuck'. The proto-language they were using was limited, only a crutch to help them get past the first few weeks until the wriggler would be physically able to form the actual words of troll language.

Sailes inspected the cocoon, purring in a reassuring manner. He found the weakest spot and soaked it with his saliva, both to soften it and to scent mark where the wriggler should try breaking through. On the floor he licked a straight line for the wriggler to follow when emerging. When he had enough room to easily maneuver his head and horns, he licked another line on the floor, making the saliva trail T-shaped.

"_Come out now, my pupa. Everything is ready for you_." Sailes purred quietly to the cocoon. He backed away slightly and sat on his haunches to watch. The cocoon was all he could see with his tunnel vision. He idly noticed the tiny footsteps of Kankri coming to him and Sufras stopping the wriggler with a few quiet words. There was a flash of brighter light every now and then, but not often enough to disturb him.

The noise from the cocoon was steady now, more focused. The wriggler was working its way out slowly and steadily. Sailes kept purring and whispering encouragements. He was sweating, spreading his scent for the wriggler to imprint on. His lustrous white fur was visibly damp in some places.

Several minutes later a tiny paw pushed through the last layer of sticky silk. The wriggler gasped for fresh air through the small hole. Sailes leaned closer for a quick sniff and whispered: "_It's ok pupa, catch your breath. Just a little more to go_."

The wriggler's tiny paws scraped at the opening, needle-like claws unsheathed. Slowly and surely, the hole grew larger, and the wriggler pushed through. Outside it flopped down on the floor, its gray fur still wet. It crawled away from the cocoon, following the trail Sailes had marked. At the end of the trail it slumped down and looked utterly miserable. It shivered with cold and mewled impatiently for Sailes. He picked up the wriggler with his mouth and lay down next to the pile.

Sailes placed the wriggler on its back. He held it between his palms and started cleaning it with his tongue. Intellectually he knew that soap, water and a towel would also work for cleaning and drying the wriggler. Instinctively he knew this was important both for bonding and giving the wriggler a good start to establishing a healthy microbiology.

A single lick on the wriggler's chest confirmed the apparent absence of rumble spheres, it was a male. Sailes sealed his lips over the wriggler's nose and gently sucked the airways clear. He dipped his tongue in the wriggler's mouth. They exchanged genetic information and Sailes smiled when the wriggler purred, imprinting itself on him. It was genetically identical to Kankri and already more vocal than Kankri was at the same age. Sailes wasn't too surprized by this, as Kankri had heard much less actual conversations and Sufras' various emotional outbursts during his pupation than this wriggler had. The difference would hopefully even out when both wrigglers grew a bit more.

The wriggler didn't mind having its face licked clean, but it protested loudly when Sailes moved on to its hair and licked its still soft and sensitive horns. It smacked its tiny paws against Sailes' chin repeatedly and he purred apologetically, moving away from the horns. The wriggler calmed down. Sailes briefly turned it around and licked its back clean. The chest and belly took a little more time because the wriggler kept trying to grab a hold of the short white fur on Sailes' face. Gently massaging the wriggler's belly with his thumb, he removed the sterile mucus plug with the other one. He took the tiny flailing paws into his mouth and licked them clean, finishing each paw with a kiss on the pads. "Soft like a wriggler's paws," he thought.

Sailes cleaned his hands while the wriggler mouthed hungrily at the black pads on his fingers. He trilled happily and nuzzled the wriggler. Then he licked and nibbled the wriggler's ears and clicked, demanding attention. The wriggler stilled and clicked back. Sailes sat up and placed the wriggler on the floor. It pushed itself up to half-seated position and looked at Sailes with its large gray eyes, tiny ears perked up attentively. Sailes inhaled and let out his call: "Screee!"

Sufras followed with his slightly deeper and stronger voice: "SCREEE!"

Kankri's call sounded small and polite, almost shy after Sufras' big one: "Screee?"

Sailes nudged the wriggler with a finger and trilled, signalling its turn. The wriggler took a slightly deeper breath: "Squeee."

Sailes picked up the wriggler and chuckled. It was identical to Kankri, all right. Kankri had the same call before he was able to speak.

The wriggler mouthed hungrily at his pads again, so he sat in the pile and got comfortable. He placed the wriggler on his lower belly, on a swollen lactic fluid gland and in plain sight of a puffy black nipple that was beading with colostrum. The wriggler held onto his fur and licked at the droplet curiously. The taste was precisely what the wriggler instinctively craved, so it sealed its lips around the nipple and suckled greedily.

Sailes purred louder and melted into the pile, riding the fresh wave of lusus-hormones that stimulated bonding. He held a hand on the wriggler's back to support it. The bond that formed between the two trolls in these first hours after pupation would last a life time, etched in their molecular memories.

Sufras leaned against his shoulder: "_Are you ready to name it_?"

"_Karkat_," Sailes said and opened his eyes to look at the youngling, "_that's what I'll call you. You are Karkat Vantas_."

Karkat purred and squinted happily at Sailes, unable to let go of the now swollen nipple. He kneaded gently with his tiny paws the soft flesh of the lactic gland. He suckled much slower now, his small stomach almost full. Sailes smiled blissfully, his tunnel vision still rendering him unable to see anything other than the little miracle of life that was his freshly-pupated wriggler.

Kankri sat quietly nearby and stared wide-eyed at the tiny fluff-ball named Karkat. Sufras gestured and whispered at Kankri to come closer. Kankri hesitated until Sailes spoke up, still preoccupied with Karkat: "_It's all right, come on closer. Just be quiet_."

Kankri came and peeked over his Lusus' belly at his hatchmate. He reached over and touched the now sleepy wriggler. Kankri's belly rumbled. He pulled back his hand and latched onto the other lactic gland's nipple. Sailes' legs twitched in surprise. "_Ah, Kankri! Be careful with your teeth_."

Sufras rubbed his nose affectionately against Sailes'. "_Do you want me to get rid of the cocoon_?"

"_That would be great. She's not here and I won't be able to get it done for at least another hour or two, so you might as well do it_."

Sufras smooched Sailes on the lips: "_I was hoping you'd say that. Thank you_."

He crept away from the pile and started eating the cocoon. A human not familiar with trolls would have just thrown the cocoon away with the trash, but the scent of the cocoon could attract all kinds of drones into the area. Besides, eating the cocoon aided both bonding with the wriggler and milk production, so Sufras might be able to step in and help raise Kankri and Karkat as a pseudo-ancestor. Due to his messed up hormone balance from all the growth and other hormones injected into him during his gladiator times, he was already producing small amounts of milk just from being constantly near Kankri.

Sufras came back to the pile and Sailes licked the sticky residue on his chin. Sufras purred and kissed Sailes on the cheek. Sailes yawned, starting to come down from the hormone high. He leaned his head back and drifted to sleep, hands idly caressing his precious wrigglers.


End file.
